St. Patrick's Day

One of my favorite holidays is St. Patrick's Day! This year at ABC we decided to do it big! We began early in the week planting our seed about the leprechauns and how sneaky they are. The kids were so excited, so we decided to build leprechaun traps to try and catch them. We used 'magical' glitter and sprinkled it in their traps. We told them that leprechauns like the glitter because they think it looks like gold. The anticipation was so high, the kids were so excited to see if the leprechauns were going to come to our school. Michaella (friend/coworker) and I stayed late the night before and completely trashed the school! We flipped the chairs upside down, spilled glitter everywhere, switched the chalkboards, dyed their water green, and messed up all the toys! To finish it off we decided to place green foot prints all over the room, and set off some of the traps. I made a trap and we put a little figure inside with his hand sticking out to make it look like I caught a leprechaun, inside the trap was a note that said "HAha Lauren, you can't catch me!" We also set off one of our students traps. This sweet little child took so long to build her trap and even left a welcome mat! We decided to write this sweetie a note from the leprechauns. It said, "I really like your trap Nela, but I'm too sneaky you can't catch me!" We finished up a few things and placed some foot prints on the door and in the bathroom, we were so excited to see their faces! The next morning was amazing, the kids could not believe what had happened. They came up with an idea of what had happened and they followed the foot prints all over the room and finally decided that the leprechauns came in the back window that was left open. They were so confused how the little leprechauns could make such a big mess and pick up such heavy objects! I asked one student why all of Michaella's stuff was all over my chalk board and she responded that the leprechauns switched our boards and that we can't fix it because we don't have the magic to lift up the boards and switch them back! So to this day they think that our boards were switched rather than just the pictures on the board, bless their sweet little hearts:) Overall, it was by far the best St. Patrick's Day and I got so much joy from seeing them so excited! I also have never seen so many little pairs of green skinny jeans...our parents do such an amazing job of getting in the spirit!

 **Please notice the adorable "Ahoj mat" at the entrance. Ahoj is something you say to your friends when you greet them or leaving, similar to hello and goodbye. The funny thing though is that in Czech you don't use Ahoj to someone you do not know so it was cute that she used it an assumed they were "friends" even though she never met the leprechauns!

jobs@travelicious.com.au

Later in the evening Tom and I went to Becketts Irish Pub. We drank Irish beer with some friends (even an Irish friend!) and had a great time!

Berlin

This past weekend we went back to our roots and explored a small part of Germany.... Berlin. Although we were not sure what to expect when heading to Berlin, we found it very eye opening. There is so much history in this city and it was fascinating to hear about it all. The first thing we did when getting to Berlin was sign up for a walking tour. We heard so many interesting stories from the tour and saw many fascinating landmarks!

We began on Museum Island, which holds many

of  the museums in Berlin.  It also held the Berlin

Cathedral pictured on the the upper left hand side. 

One of the most fascinating statements our tour guide said during the tour was that all the little holes and chips in the pillars were actually bullet holes from WWII. He said you can find them on the buildings all over the city.

 Berlin Cathedral

This was a building used in WWII to hold armor and supplies for soldiers. This building was also a site of an attempt on Hitler's life. A member of the Germany army strapped himself with a bomb and set the timer for 10 minutes. His goal was to try and stay as close to Hitler as possible. Unfortunately, Hitler became bored while walking through the building and completed the tour in 2 minutes. In a panic the German soldier went to the bathroom and defused the bomb with seconds to spare. Only to come outside and see Hitler playing on a Russian tank in the back yard for the next 15 minutes.

This square housed the site of the book burnings that led up to WWII. In the book burnings approximately 20,000 books were burned. In the picture to the lower left with the glass window, there is a room with book shelves that are said to hold 20,000 books. This is a memorial of the literature that was lost during the burnings.

The Brandenburg Gate was built by the King of Prussia in 1788 as a sign of peace.

 These blocks are the site of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. This site is composed of 2,711 cement slabs. The memorial is supposed to make you feel uneasy and out of touch from the human world. While walking through the memorial I felt alone, lost, and almost helpless. It was similar to a maze.                                                                                 Below this parking lot is where Hitler committed suicide. A few feet below the surface is the site of Hitlers bunker. We found it very interesting that this sight is not highly noticeable. They have a small sign stating the significance but that is it. Another sad story that was told about Hitler was about his close associate Joseph Goebbels and how him and his wife decided to poison their six children after getting word of Hitlers suicide because they could not imagine having their children grow up in a world without Hitler. This story instantly made me sick to my stomach.

Berlin Wall and site of the Topography of Terror Museum about the Gestapo and the SS in Berlin. 

 Site of the East Side Gallery in Berlin. This is the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall that is standing.

Overall, Berlin was an emotional city. Its sad to think about what so many people went through and how much destruction the city encountered, so many magnificent landmarks were destroyed during the World Wars.  Even though they had a lot of deconstruction it is interesting to see how far they have come in the rebuilding process.